Here’s Why Employees are Not Using Group Medical Cover

Posted on: Oct 10, 2022 | | Written by:

Here’s Why Employees are Not Using Group Medical Cover

Published on October 07, 2022. EST READ TIME: 3 minutes

Employer offered Group Medical Cover (GMC) or group medical insurance is the perfect incentive to keep employees happy and healthy. This cover includes a curated list of health benefits for the employee and promises a hassle free, seamless claim process as well. The employer in turn reaps goodwill for being employee centric. This symbiotic association translates to greater productivity, overall wellbeing and enhanced work experience. Sounds like a dream, right? But this dream seldom comes true. Contrary to what seems obvious, the group medical insurance largely remains under-utilised and ends up costing the company. Why is it so? Read on to find out and discover ways to address it.

Top 6 Reasons Why Employees Under-Utilise the Benefits of Group Medical Insurance

• Lack of awareness:

Employees may not have been appropriately briefed about the benefits that are available for them. Medical insurance is a complex subject and lack of knowledge is often the culprit. Also, there is a perception that claiming insurance cover involves hassle and inconvenience. Misguided by this perception, employees might avoid registering claims in case of low medical expenses.

• Inadequate coverage:

Coverage refers to the sum insured, types of ailments, eligibility for claims as well as the inclusions and exclusions related to accidental expenses. Inadequate coverage might discourage the employee from using the GMC as they would have to incur additional personal expenses. If the sum insured is low, employee might avoid raising claims thinking the benefits are not as expected.

• Exclusion of dependant family members:

In a country like India where joint families exist and children take care of ageing parents, agroup Mediclaim policywhich does not include dependent family members does not seem like a good idea. So, they opt for individual or family floaters in which all family members are covered and ignore the benefits of group insurance.

• Not sharing the correct personal information:

Some employees may not feel comfortable to share their medical history with the employer. As a result, they cannot raise claims for those medical conditions which they have not disclosed to the company.

• Non-participation in the decision-making process:

Usually, group medical insurance plans are chosen by the top management of the company based on the coverage, the insurance company and other factors. The opinions of employees, who are the actual beneficiaries, are not considered, and hence, they lose interest in group health insurance.

• Lack of flexibility:

Individual policies promise to be far more flexible as compared to GMC in terms of services and coverage. Employees who consider health insurance a top priority might favour customised individual health insurance policies over GMC.

Tips to Increase the Utilisation of Group Health Insurance (GHI) Plan

• Increase Awareness About GHI:

Organisations should share information about GHI not only at the time of induction, training and orientation, but also conduct regular training sessions and workshops to recall the benefits and features of group medical insurance. When an employee is new to the company, they might be overwhelmed for many reasons and might not retain much information about the GHI. The company HR department can also send out regular mailers about the GMC. Representatives from the insurance company can conduct webinars at regular intervals so that employees can get answers to their queries and achieve clarity regarding the group Mediclaim policy.

• Enhance the Plan Coverage:

One of the major issues with GMC is that it might not suit the employee’s needs. So, in order to address that, employees should be involved while deciding the insurance cover. The GMC can be tailored to employee preferences in terms of the sum insured, number of people insured, and the illnesses covered. Organisations can offer add-on covers to enhance the coverage such as coverage for critical illnesses, daily cash allowance, etc.

• Make the Claim Process Hassle-Free:

In any organisation, the claim process for medical insurance tends to be cumbersome and lengthy, thus discouraging employees from availing the benefits of group Mediclaim policy. Employees don’t want to raise claims in such scenarios and rather choose to pay from their own pocket. In such cases, the company can partner with a reputed insurer that allows policyholders to file claims digitally, making the process easy and seamless. Make sure the insurer has a friendly and interactive mobile app for easy access to any information.

Conclusion

Group Health Insurance, as a concept, is a win-win situation for the employee and well as the employer. It is just that multiple factors prevent this concept from reaching its potential. If an employer makes sure that the GHI is as useful to the employee as an individual or family floater plan, then both parties can reap the benefits of group medical insurance

Disclaimer: The above information is for illustrative purpose only. For more details, please refer to policy wordings and prospectus before concluding the sales.

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